| STATE AUDIT COVERED ONE YEAR OF MT. ZION PSD RECORDS
Following a final hearing on Mt. Zion PSD problems by the WV Public Service Commission in November, the WV-PSC is directing the Mt. Zion PSD to, if it has not already done so, purchase and fully implement a computer software financial accounting system recommended by Commission staff.
During the Grantsville hearing, the commission found a long laundry list of accounting problems with the Mt. Zion PSD operation.
PSC attorney Leslie Anderson said the "cursory" investigation covered one year of record keeping from July 2008 to July 2009, and was directed toward reestablishing the operations of the troubled PSD.
During testimony before law master Ronnie McCann, PSC auditor Troy Eggleton said the PSD records were in "disarray, with a large amount of records missing."
Eggleton said there was a lack of checks and balances, with former secretary-treasurer Wilma Mace obtaining pre-signed checks, "not authorized to a known vendor," indicating the record-keeping did not separate water and sewage.
A boxful of bills had never been mailed to customers. One bill was in the amount of the person's phone number, while there was a keystroke error of a customer getting a $35,000 bill.
The WV-PSC's latest recommendation is directed toward a continuing effort to put the local PSD back on track.
Calhoun prosecutor Rocky Holmes asked Eggleton if the investigation cleared questions regarding any wrongdoing. Eggleton replied, "I cannot assume there was no wrongdoing."
The WV-PSC praised the current Mt. Zion PSD board for their improvement efforts.
See related story OFFICIALS SAY MT. ZION PSD BACK ON TRACK - Investigation Could Not Assure No Wrongdoing
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